Paid Search is Gaining in Mobile Devices in the Coming Years
As we all know, thanks to the popular mobile phone manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung, there has been rise in demand for mobile devices like smartphones and tablets mainly because of ease in internet access and people are leaving traditional platforms such as desktops and laptops for these devices. With majority of the people using smartphones and tablets, marketers and advertisers turned their attention towards these devices and started developing mobile-centric SEO strategies with aim of getting better search traffic and high returns. According to eMarketer, the global smartphone penetration has reached about 60% and by the year 2015 the demand for tablets will exceed that of desktop computers. Due to the popularity surge of mobile devices, they will become the next primary platform for search and main marketing platform for advertisers.
Now according to Marin Software which is an online advertising platform has forecasted that the mobile devices will accounts to 50% of all Google’s paid search clicks. Using their “Global Online Advertising Index”, Marin analyzed advertising data from leading advertisers around the world who invested more than six billion dollars annually for paid search and some findings reveal that the cost per click (CPC) on mobile devices is higher when compared to CPC on the desktop platforms during 2013 and in some territories, CPCs on tablets have gained upper hand over desktop CPCs. When it comes to conversion rates, tablets and smartphones became the major platforms for commercial activities throughout the year 2013.
When Marin Software analyzed the click-through rates data, they found that customers are more engaged in mobile devices than in desktops and in 2013, the average click-through rate (CTR) of smartphones is about 64% and in tablets it is 18% higher compared to the average desktop CTR. While the average cost per click (CPC) of search ads on mobile devices is lower than desktop CPCs and the researchers found that smartphone CPC rose to 21% and tablet CPC showed an increase up to 23% in 2013. This relative increase in the CPC of mobile devices shows the growing competition among advertisers in the area of mobile internet marketing.
Will Mobile Marketing Become the Next SEO
Even though the screen size in smartphones is limited, advertisers are trying their best to increase the number of ad impressions delivered per search. These days mobile marketing is becoming location based as businesses can target customers to purchase relevant products/services which make mobile marketing less intrusive and more relevant. In 2014, marketers and advertisers are moving towards real-time location based marketing by relying on the GPS location of their targeted audience. For example, retailers can utilize geo-targeting based strategy for integrating features like “check inventory” or “find it in store” into their mobile presence.
Another emerging trend in mobile marketing is the narrow-casting in which businesses the ability to focus fewer people who really interested in attending the campaigns or events conducted for them and marketers can offer personalized content for the actual attendees before, during and after the event. These people will help you in expanding brand awareness by sharing their experiences to others in social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. According to many experts, mobile SEO is gaining much popularity among businesses irrespective of their size and they will invest heavily in hopes of gaining SEO benefits and expecting high return value.
